page_title: Åland Islands
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Åland Islands / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: Mariehamn Åland
context_page_description: The Åland Islands or Åland is an archipelago province at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea belonging to Finland. It is autonomous, demilitarised and is the only monolingually Swedish-speaking region in Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland, constituting 0.51% of its land area and 0.54% of its population. Of Åland's thousands of islands, 60 are inhabited.
  Åland comprises Fasta Åland on which 90% of the population resides and a further 6,500 skerries and islands to its east. Fasta Åland is separated from the coast of Sweden by 38 kilometres of open water to the west. In the east, the Åland archipelago is contiguous with the Finnish Archipelago Sea. Åland's only land border is located on the uninhabited skerry of Märket, which it shares with Sweden. From the capital of Åland, Mariehamn, there is a distance of about 160 kilometers to Turku, the coastal city of the Mainland Finland, and also to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.
  Åland's autonomous status means that those provincial powers normally exercised by representatives of the central Finnish government are largely exercised by its own government.
context_section_description: Åland's economy is heavily dominated by shipping, trade, and tourism. Shipping represents about 40% of the economy, with several international carriers owned and operated from Åland. Most companies aside from shipping are small, with fewer than ten employees. Farming and fishing are important in combination with the food industry. A few high-profile technology companies contribute to a prosperous economy. Wind power is rapidly developing, aiming at reversing the direction in the cables to the mainland in the coming years. In December 2011, wind power accounted for 31.5% of Åland's total electricity usage.
  The main ports are Mariehamn (south), Berghamn (west), and Långnäs on the eastern shore of the Main Island.
  Mariehamn served as the base for the last large oceanic commercial sailing-ships in the world. Their final tasks involved bringing Australian wheat to Great Britain, a trade which Åland shipowner Gustaf Erikson kept going until 1947. The ships latterly made only one round-trip from South Australia to Britain per year, (the grain race), after each marathon voyage going back to Mariehamn to lay up for a few months. The ship Pommern, now a museum in Mariehamn, was one of these last vessels.
  The abolition of tax-free sales on ferry boats traveling between destinations within the European Union made Finland demand an exception for the Åland Islands on the European Union value-added tax rules. The exception allows for maintained tax-free sales on the ferries between Sweden and Finland (provided they stop at Mariehamn or Långnäs) and at the airport, but has also made Åland a different tax-zone, meaning that tariffs must be levied on goods brought to the islands. Two million people visit the Åland Islands every year - but most of them just for a few hours before the ferry returns again, or the passengers change from one ship to another.
  Unemployment was 3.9% in January 2014
  The Finnish State also collects taxes, duties and fees in Åland. In return, the Finnish Government places a sum of money at the disposal of the Åland Parliament. The sum is 0.5% of total Government income, excluding Government loans. If the sum paid to the Finnish state exceeds 0.5%, then any amount above goes back to the Parliament of Åland as "diligence money". In 2010 the amount of taxes paid by Åland Islanders comprised 0.7% of the total taxes paid in Finland.
  According to Eurostat, as of 2006 Åland was the 20th-wealthiest of the EU's 268 regions, and the wealthiest in Finland, with a GDP per inhabitant 47% above the EU mean.
  Bank of Åland is headquartered on the island. 
  The euro is the sole legal tender (as with the rest of Finland), although most businesses in Åland unofficially accept the Swedish krona.
caption: Torggatan, a pedestrian street in the city of Mariehamn
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